Freddie Roach has gone on the record as saying that Floyd Mayweather is still the fight Manny wants, and that he wants to shut Floyd up once and for all for damaging his reputation. While usually this might sound like the beginnings of another attempt to get the fight made by the two camps, one question remaining is whether Floyd still wants the fight after all.
While Manny and several members of his team have said that they think the fight will be made eventually, Mayweather and his Golden Boy representatives have been largely quiet on the subject
While still mulling over opponents for his next fight, Mayweather’s mind might well be far away from the idea of Manny Pacquiao and the whole mess that took place over the new year between them.
So far all we know about Mayweather and his intentions for the future are that he will be fighting someone around May time, Shane Mosley being the front runner. Also we know that Mayweather will probably still be insisting on the extra testing for a future Pacquiao bout, which is something that Pac-man and team don’t approve of.
If there is one thing that will motivate Mayweather into making the Pacquiao fight happen though is the money involved. Reportedly Floyd is habitually short of cash at the moment following robberies and being ripped off my scam artists for millions. He needs a big pay day or two to right his financial ship and continue his lavish lifestyle.
Whether that will be enough of a motivation for Mayweather will remain to be seen, but clearly he’s the one under a lot of pressure to make the fight happen. Although he has tried to spin the breakdown in negotiations in his favor, most of the public seem to be siding with Pacquiao and his unwillingness to undergo completely random testing.
Its difficult to see which side is really in the right on that issue, because I don’t think Mayweather really believes Pacquiao is on anything illegal. More likely he was using the extra testing as a bargaining chip or means to inconvenience Pacquiao and the whole issue went too far, eventually stopping the entire fight from happening.
From the other side, Pacquiao probably didn’t believe he needed to be dictated to by the lower ranked fighter when he is the champion, and rightly so under normal circumstances.
This isn’t any ordinary situation though, and whether Mayweather was really trying to expose the inadequate testing in the sport at the moment as he claims, this wasn’t the right way of going about it.
The biggest problem seems to be that both fighters are used to getting their own way when it comes to negotiations. as the pound for pound champion, both are used to dictating terms and having challengers go along with them. The trouble is that both of them think they are the top fighter in the sport.
In reality although both are near the top, Pacquiao has the best claim by far at the moment, and most sources rank him well above Mayweather. Largely because Floyd has yet to challenge the best fighters at welterweight, instead having smaller opponents move up and fight him when clearly at a big disadvantage.
Ironically both fighters will probably take on opponents who have been caught cheating in the near future. Antonio Margarito is already talking up a potential Pacquiao bout in the near future, and Mayweather himself is currently negotiating to fight a known steroid user in Shane Mosley.
Author: Scott Heritage
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